Press for extracting juice from sugar-cane.



No. 634,46I. Patented Oct. l0, I899. J. W. HYATT.

PRESS FUR EXTRACTING JUICE FROM SUGAR CANE.

(Application filed Dec. 2, 1897.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet I.

N0. 634,46l. Patented Ont. l0, I899. J. w. HYATT.

PRESS FOR EXTRACTING JUICE FROM SUGAR CANE.

(Application filed Dec. 2, 1897.)

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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No. 634,46]. P atented Oct. l0, I899.

.1. w. HYATT.

PRESS FOR EXTRACTING JUICE FROM SUGAR CANE.

(Application filed Dec. 2, 1897.) (No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 3,.

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NITED STATES PATENT Fries,

JOHN XV. HYATT, OF NEW'ARK, NEYV JERSEY.

PRESS FOR EXTRACTING JUICE FR OM SUGAR-CANE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,.461, dated October 10, 1899. Applicaticn filed December 2,1397. Serial No. 660,521. (no model.)

T0 or 1071,0111, it may concern;

Be it known that 1, JOHN W. .l-IYATT, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Newark, county of Essex, State ofNew Jersey, have invented a new and useful Machine for Extracting Juice from Sugar-Cane and Analogous Materials, of which the follow ing is a specification. In machines which operate to compress such materials by rolls or belts the rolls are commonly placed in a horizontal position, and the belts are usually formed of canvas or other closely-woven material, and in none of such constructions is the juice able to escape from the compressed fiber with perfect freedom, and the juice thus adheres to the fiber, so that a certain proportion of it is reabsorbed by the fiber when released from the compression.

The object of the present invention is chiefly to provide a means of facilitatingthe discharge of the juice from the fiber when compressed, and the object is accomplished, first, by employing a permeable belt to convey the material between pressure-rolls, and such belt may be made of ropes of Manila or sisal hemp, which are capable of absorbing the juice and of yielding under compression between the rolls. A rope belt operates very differently from a woven fabric, as the interspaces between the ropes furnish outlets for the juice when the material is compressed, and thus prevent it from remaining in cont-act with the fiber and its reabsorption thereby. If such permeable belts were used with horizontallydisposed rolls, the liquid discharged through the interstices of the upper belt would when the ropes were released from compression inevitably run down upon the fiber and be absorbed thereby. To prevent this effect and to secure the complete discharge of the juice from the fiber, I use vertical pressure-rolls, and thus set the belts upon edge, by which construction the juice which is expressed from the fiber and forced through the belts is rapidly drained by gravity from the outer sides of the belts and is wholly prevented from passing through the rolls to be reabsorbed by the expanding fiber. With vertically-disposed belts a supportis necessary at the lower edges of the belts to sustain the material which is fed between the same, and as such material does not rest by gravity upon either of the belts supplemental means are required for jected to the maximum pressure.

My invention includes means arranged beneath the belts for supporting the material from the feeding-point to the junction of the rolls, and I prefer also to use a plate above the top edges of the belts to confine the material in a closed chamber as it is gradually compressed. The cane or other material. requiring the extraction of juice is first finely cut ordisintegrated to avoid injury to the ropes and to permit the juice to more readily separate from the fiber and the latter to more easily absorb water for maceration.

The apparatus comprises, primarily, two pressure-rolls, around one of which a loop of each of two endless belts is carried, one of the belts being made longer than the other and both being sustained by auxiliary pulleys so situated with reference to the pressure-rolls that the belts may converge toward the point of contact between the rolls and may subsequently diverge from one another to permit the discharge of the pressed material. The disintegrated material is fed between the belts at a point where they are sufficiently separated and is supported from such point to the junction of the rolls by a fixed or movable support. Such space between the belts is preferably closed upon the upper side also, and supplemental means is provided to feed or force the material positively forward in such space, so as to pack it between the belts and subject to the operation of the rolls from four to eight times as much of the material as would be drawn into the rolls without the use of such belts and forcing appliances. The effect of such forcing appliances is to subject the material as the belts converge into the rolls to a pressure which deprives the material of the greater part of its juice before it is subjected to the final pressure. The ma terial may be supported between the lower edges of the belts and also propelled forward by a large disk, rotated in coincidence with the movementof the beltatihe pointwhere the fiber is fed between them. A pressure-roll may also be applied to the upper edges of the belts next the feeding-point to crowd closely between the belts. The material which may be heaped above their surface and such compression of the material by a forwardly-rotating surface operates, in conjunction with the disk,to push the fiber positively forward. The belts may be crowded together before reaching thejunction of the pressure-rolls by means of small rolls adapted to force the belts partly together, and thus discharge a part of the j nice through theinterstiees of the belts before they are embraced by the peripheries of the pressure-rolls. I prefer to add another pressureroll and to'moisten the material between the two belts after it has passed through the j unetion of the first two rolls, subjectingit again to severe pressure at the opposite side of the roll over which the loops of the belts are carried. The dimensions of the rolls are preferably four feet in diameter and one foot face, and the outer rolls may be revolved by frictional contact with the center rolls or by gearing. The center roll is provided with heavy flanges at the top and bottom, between which the faces of the outer rolls are contained, and such flanges serve to hold the material between the belts where their loops encircle said roll.

Heavy fibrous permeable belts may be formed by placing endless spliced ropes about one inch in diameter side by side around the center roll and the auxiliary rolls which sustain the belts. To apply water to the fiber after the first compression, at segmental stripper is inserted within the loop of the longer belt adjacent to the first junction of the pressing-rolls and is provided with a water-channel and openings to force water under pressure into the material. The material is then carried between the two belts halfway around the center roll, where it is subjected to the second pressure by the second pressing-roll. These belts are distinguished from an ordinary canvas or integral belt by the spaces maintained between the ropes for the escape of the juice and which, if necessary, may be kept free by passing thin strips of metal between them during their motion or by the constant changes of position which occur in their movement as well as by decreasing the number of ropes in the belt and thus widening the intermediate spaces.

W hen the ropes are freed from pressure, the juice adhering to the rolls and to the adjacent surface of the ropes is reabsorbed by the expanding ropes instead of by the bagasse or compressed fiber, thus saving a large percentage of thejuice heretofore wasted and delivering the bag-asse in a dry condition for use as fuel, and also avoiding the escape from the fibers and joints of the cane of a large quantity of impurities which are frequently crowded out where crushing-rolls are used.

Accurate and constant pressure, equal to the sustaining capacity of the belts, is maintained upon the outer rolls byhydraulic pressure or other equivalent means.

My invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan of the machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 shows a section through the lines 5 t a 1;, looking toward the hydraulic cylinder. Fig. 4: is a plan of the segmental stripper G, and Fig. 5 is an elevation thereof.

The machine is composed of the three rolls A B B, mounted on the vertical shafts (L Z) Z). At the lower end of the shaft a is the large bevel-gear D, which is driven by the bevelgear E, mounted on the horizontal shaft F. The rolls B B are mounted on the vertical shafts Z) Z), which are held in place by the swing-frames O O, which in turn are mounted upon the vertical shafts g g. The rolls B B are provided with roller-bearings to minimize their resistance.

The ropes H encircle the flanged roller A and the adjustable roller K, and the ropes H are so sustained by the fixed roller J and the adjustable roller L and the roller M as to entirely encircle the belt H and the crushingroll A, which is encircled by the. loop at one end of said belt.

The -rolls J, K, and L are at a little distance from the crushing-rolls and relativelyso situated that the ropes II and II, which pass around them, converge toward the points of contact of the crushing-rolls. The roller M is close to the roller A and so situated with reference thereto as to separate the ropes H, which pass around it, from the rope 11 after both belts have passed between the rolls A and B.

The disk N, mounted upon the vertical shaft N, Fig. 2, is propelled by a sprocket-chain 0 from the sprocket-wheel Y, mounted on the shaft a. The connecting-rods P and P, Fig. 2, are each mounted upon the vertical shaft 1) and are slotted, so as to pass over the vertical shafts a and I). These shafts pass through the cross-head Q, upon which is formed the ranrR, which enters the hydraulic cylinder S. The hydraulic cylinder S is provided with two arms T and T, Fig. 2, which terminate in the collars U U, Fig. 3, through which pass the vertical shaft 1). Hydraulic pressure being applied within the cylinder S the ram R is forced away from the end of the cylinder S and forces the shaft 1), upon which is mounted the roller B, toward the central shaft a, which carries the large flanged roller A. At the same time connecting-rods P P, which connect with the vertical shaft Z), pull the roller B toward the central shaft a, the effect being to force the two rolls B B with equal pressure toward the central roller A. The two rope belts If H are carried between the peripheries of the rollers A and B and also A and B in the direction shown by the arrows.

The cane-fiber carrier V, driven by the shaft .2, conveys the disintegrated cane fiber and drops it between the two rope belts H II at the point (Z, where it drops upon the revolving disk N. The horizontal roller 6, mounted on the shaft f, rotates in the direction shown by the arrow. The disintegrated cane fiber is carried by the two rope belts H H, the horizontal disk N, and the roller 6 in the direction shown by the arrow, toward and between the peripheries of the rollers y y, thence toward and between the peripheries of the large rollers A B. The function of the rollerc and the disk N is to propel the cane fiber forward until it can be grasped between the converging belts. Other convenient equivalent mechanical means can be substituted for this purpose. After passing through these rollers it is separated from the rope belt H by the segmental stripper G and passes between the stripper G and the rope belt H, where it is allowed to expand and at which point it is supplied with water, and thence is carried around the periphery of the roller A until it comes in contact with the rope belt H at the point 72. and is continued around with the roller A until it reaches the periphery of the roller B, where it is again squeezed, and the bagasse flows along in the direction of the arrow and drops through the discharge-orifice 7i i The position of the rope belts formed by the series of endless ropes being vertical from edge to edge allows of the escape of the main portion of the juice before the disintegrated cane passes between the rolls A and B through both belts, and the remainder of the juice, diluted with the water from the passage n, can readily pass through the ropes H before the fiber passes the point of contact of the rolls A and B.

The bed-plate W is mounted upon four columns X X X X and is provided with bearings for the shaft a and the shafts g g and also for the vertical studs sustaining the rollers J K L M and y y.

The frame or bed-plate W is recessed at W, Fig. 3, so as to allow the rim of the roll A to fit loosely therein, so that the inner surface of the lower flange is on a level with the top of the bed, guiding the lower edge of the rope belts in contact therewith. The lower edges of the rolls B B also rotate in close relation to the top of the bed. The rope belts H H may be called rope screens.

The flanges of the roller A have the double function of forming walls within which the ropes and the compressed fiber are held and of also forming with the rope belt H on the periphery of the roll three sides of frictional contact with the fiber after it has passed between the rolls A and B, which overcomes the resistance of the fourth side upon the surface of the stripper G and propels the fiber positively to the point where the ropes H again embrace it and carry it between the rolls A and B.

The two series of ropes H H are in practice made up of single Manila ropes one inch in diameter and spliced so as to be endless. Vhenever the character of the fibrous material from which the juice is to be extracted is such as to make it desirable not to have the ropes separate they may be fastened together, so as to form an integral belt. There are twelve endless ropes placed one above the other in each of the series, and they are drawn up tightly by the tightening-rolls L and K. The plate I, supported by the studs 0 i m, serves to confine the ropes and the disintegrated cane within the dimensions corresponding to the width between the flangesj j. The stripper G is shown in Figs. 4 and 5 in plan and elevation. It is provided with a water-passage n and means of connecting the water-pipe n. The water-space n is provided with apertures 0 0, through which water under pressure is injected into the moving fiber after it has passed the first pressurerolls A B. The pillow-block p is provided with the horizontal journal-bearings q, Fig. 3, and the vertical journal-bearing q, which carry the shafts supporting the bevel-gears E D. Discharge-troughs r r are provided, as shown in Fig. 3 and also in Fig. 1.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Power being applied by means of the shaft F to the bevel-gear E, the bevel-gear D is 1'0- tated, and with it the shaft a, carrying the flanged roller A. Hydraulic pressure from an accumulator is applied to the cylinder S, thus forcing the three rolls A B Bin contact, so that the friction at the points of contactis sufficient to drive the rollers B B and at the same time force the juice from the fiber. The disintegrated fiber being fed uniformly upon the carrier V falls between the ropes H H at the point d, and is carried thence under the roll (2 and thence under the plate I and between the rolls y y, passing along between the rolls A B, which force the juice from the cane through the interstices of the ropes and through the spaces between the ropes, and falling into the trough r. The top of the bed W, in which the bottom flange of the roll A is sunk, forms a plate at the bottom edge of the belts corresponding to the plate I at the top, and thus confines the material between the belts in its movements toward the rolls. The fiber is pressed as hard as the ropes H H will allow without too rapid disintegration. Wire ropes can be substituted if great durability is required. As the fiber passes between the series of ropes H around the periphery of the large flanged rollerA and the segment G it will expand,so as to fill the space between the ropes H and the stripper G. WVater is applied under pressure through the apertures 0 0 and flows in a continuous stream and is absorbed by the fiber and mingles with the small quantity of juice still remaining therein. It passes along within the ropes H H until it arrives at the point of contact between the rollers A B, where it is again submitted to a very high pressure, which forces the juice out between the spaces and interstices of the series of ropes It, thence falling into the trough r, and thence through the outlet pipe shown in the trough.

It is essential that the cane be first disintegrated, so as to break up the cells and hard shell and joints of the cane, so that a comparatively moderate pressure will effect the displacement of the juice.

The machine is represented in the drawings with three pressure-rolls A, B, and B and the belts arranged in the manner described for the purpose of subjecting the cane to two successive pressures; but the use of three pressure-rolls is obviously immaterial to the operation of the feeding devices and the arrangement of plates above and below the space between the converging belts from the feeding-point to the junction of the rolls A and B. The disk N and the surface of the bed \V between the edge of such disk and the junction of the pressure-rolls serve as plates to close at the bottom the space between the belts to sustain the material in its passage to such rolls. These features of the invention and the means for feeding the material positively forward (as the disk N and roll 6) are obviously independent in their operation of the number of pressures to which the fiber is subjected after it reaches the pressure-rolls.

Vhat I claim as my invention is- 1. Ajnice-extractingmachinehaving vertical press ure-rolls, converging permeable carrier-belts carried between the surfaces of said rolls, means for feeding the material between the belts where sufficiently separated, means between the belts for supporting such material from the feeding-point to the rolls, and a supplemental moving surface in contact with the material to feed the material forward between the belts until grasped by the same.

2. A juice-extracting machine having vertical pressure-rolls, converging permeable carrier-belts sustained by auxiliary pulleys and carried between the surfaces of said rolls, means for feeding the material between the belts where sufliciently separated, and means acting in conjunction with the belts for positively confining the material between the same from the feeding-point to the rolls.

3. A juice-extracting machine having vertical pressure rolls, with one of such rolls flanged and another roll fitted between the flanges, converging permeable carrier-belts sustained by auxiliary pulleys and carried between the surfaces of said rolls, and constructed to substantially fit between the flanges of the flanged roll, means for feeding the material between the belts where sulficiently separated, and plates held contiguous to the edges of the belts and fitted to the edges of the roll-flanges for confining the material between the belts in its movement toward the rolls.

a. A juice-extracting machine having vertical pressure-rolls, converging carrierbelts sustained by auxiliary pulleys and carried between the surfaces of said rolls, means for feeding the material between the belts where sufficiently separated, means acting in conjunction with the belts for positively confining the material between the same from the feeding-point to the rolls, and means for moving the material forward between the belts until grasped by the belts, substantially as herein set forth.

5. In a juice-extracting machine, the combination, with the vertical roll A having flanges J at top and bottom, of the contiguous vertical rolls B and B fitted within the said flanges, the belt H extended part way around the roll A and around the auxiliary pulley K, and the belt II entirely encircling the belt H and supported by auxiliary pulleys to converge toward the junction of the rolls A and B, and diverge from the junction of the rolls A and B, and means for feeding the material between the belts as they approach the junction of the rolls A and 13, whereby the material is first pressed where the belts pass between the rolls A and B, and pressed again where the belts pass between the rolls A and B, and finally discharged where the belts diverge from the junction of the last-mentioned rolls.

6. A juice-extracting machine comprising the three contiguous vertical rolls A, B, and B, with means for pressing the lateral rolls upon the center roll, the belts H, H sustained by auxiliary pulleys and arranged to converge toward the junction of the rolls A and B, the belt if being extended part way around the roll A in contact therewith, and the belt H extended from the lines of pressure between the several rolls around the pulley M, the stripper G arranged within the belt H adjacent to the roll A and provided with the water-passage n for moistening the material within the belt I-I, whereby the material is first pressed between the rolls A and B, then moistened and pressed again between the rolls A and B, substantially as herein set forth.

7. A machine for extracting juice from sugar-cane, which consists of contiguous, rotatable pressure-rolls, the axes of which are vertical; means for revolving said rolls; means for pressing said rolls together; converging, permeable carrying-belts passing between the faces of said rolls and over auxiliary pulleys; auxiliary pulleys so situated with reference to the pressure-rolls that the said belts which pass over them and between the pressure-rolls converge toward the points of contact of the latter; and means of moving the cane forward between the belts until it can be grasped by them, substantially as described.

S. A machine for extracting juice from sugar-cane, which consists of contiguous, rotatable pressure-rolls, the axes of which are vertical; means for revolving said rolls; means for pressing said rolls together; converging, permeable carrying-belts passing between the faces of said rolls and over auxiliary pulleys; auxiliary pulleys so situated with reference to the pressure-rolls that the said belts which pass over them and between the pressure-rolls converge toward the points of contact of the latter; and a movable surface beneath said belts to assist in the prop ulsionof the cane, substantially as described.

9. A machine for extracting juice from sugar-cane, which consists of contiguous,rotatable pressure-rolls, the axes of which are vertical; means for revolving said rolls; means for pressing said rolls together; converging, permeable carrying-belts passing between the faces of said rolls and over auxiliary pulleys; auxiliary pulleys so situated with reference to the pressure-rolls that the said belts which pass over them and between the pressure-rolls converge toward the points of contact of the latter; and movable surfaces beneath and above said belts to assist in the propulsion of the cane, substantially as described.

10. machine for extracting juice from sugar-cane,which consists of three contiguous, rotatable pressure-rolls, the axes of which are vertical; two converging,permeable carryingbelts passing part way around the center roll and between it and the outer rolls and over auxiliary pulleys; auxiliary pulleys so situated with reference to the pressure-rolls that the belts converge toward the points of contact of the latter; means for revolving said pressure-rolls; means for causing the outer rolls to exert pressure upon the center roll; and a revolving disk beneath said belts, substantially as described.

11. A machine for extracting juice from sugar-cane,\vhich consists of three contiguous, rotatable pressure-rolls; means for revolving said rolls, the center one of which is flanged and mounted on a vertical shaft provided with gearing and journaled in bearings supported in a foundation and bed-plate; swingframes to which the axles of the outer rolls are secured; a hydraulic cylinder to the plunger of which the axles of the outer rolls are secured and the movement of which forces them against the center roll; two converging, permeable carrying-belts composed of parallel ropes placed one above another and passing between the faces of the pressure-rolls and part way around the center roll; auxiliary pulleys over which said belts also pass, and

which are so situated that the belts converge toward the points of contact of the pressurerolls; a horizontal, revolving disk situated upon the bed-plate of the machine and beneath the converging belts ahorizontal roller situated above said belts and disk; and a carrying-belt 'for conveying the disintegrated cane to the machine, substantially as described.

12. A juice extracting machine having three vertical pressure-rolls A, B and B with axes upon the same line, means, as the swingframes 0 and C for holding the lateral rolls movably, and means, as the hydraulic cylinder S and its plunger R, operating respectively upon the two swing-frames and lateral rolls B, B to produce a balanced pressure upon the opposite sides of the center roll A, substantially as herein set forth.

13. A juice extracting machine having three vertical pressure-rolls A, B and B with axes upon the same line, means, as the swingframes VO, 0' for holding the lateral rolls movably, belts propelling the material, to be pressed, successively between the center roll A and each of the lateral rolls B, B, and means, as the hydraulic cylinder S and its plunger R, operating respectively upon the two swing-frames and lateral rolls B B, to produce a balanced pressure upon the opposite sides of the center roll A, substantially 'as herein set forth. i

14. A juice-extracting machine having Vertical pressure-rolls, converging belts carried JOHN w. HYATT.

Witnesses:

RALPH W. HYATT, HARRY L. SoDEN. 

